Saudi officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Bahrain, Sudan, and Kuwait have also scaled back diplomatic relations with Iran in solidarity.
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The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen on Thursday denied an accusation by Tehran that its warplanes had targeted the Iranian Embassy there.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to execute al-Nimr might the entire Middle East in danger, including peace talks in Syria, the global fight against Daesh (Islamic State) and could even radically change the balance of power between Sunnis and Shiites, Purple said in the National Interest.
Iran accused the strike of injuring a number of embassy guards and damaging the building in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Wednesday night.
Protesters had broken into the embassy in Tehran and set it on fire because they were angry over the execution of Saudi Shia leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had criticized the Gulf country’s ruling family and its treatment of Shia citizens.
As good friends of both Saudi Arabia and Iran, Retno said that Indonesia would continue all necessary efforts to prevent the situation from worsening. Annual imports from Saudi Arabia – mainly packing materials and textiles – total about $60 million a year.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, speaking in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, said the row could have “wide-ranging repercussions”. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran, which followed Riyadh’s execution on Saturday of a prominent Shia cleric.
Saudi Arabia this week cut the February price of its export oil to Europe to win market share at Iran’s expense, Zarif pointed out.
“Saudi Arabia is trying to cover up its defeats and domestic problems by creating tension in the region”, Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on Iranian state television on Wednesday.
He further accused Saudi Arabia of displaying hostile behavior towards Iran.
The weekend protests were in response to Riyadh’s execution of leading Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force behind Shiite protests in 2011.
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Meanwhile Iran urges for establishing stability and security in the region, he said. Mohammed al-Nimr, the sheikh’s brother, said people planned to hold a funeral Thursday for the cleric, though Saudi authorities already buried his corpses in an undisclosed cemetery.
